Fundamental Problems in Phonetics

Linguistics has become central to the science of man. Speech identifies homo sapiens: it is the dividing line between Levi-Straussian Culture and Nature. Students, not merely of linguistics but of the behavioural and cognitive sciences, must have a sound grasp of its principles. No such grasp is possible without a prior understanding of phonetics. This book is an original and comprehensive introduction to the nature and characteristics of a complex and universal human activity: the production of vocal sounds. The phonetic stages, or phrases, in the production of speech are studied in sequence, the two most important, the aerodynamic and acoustic phases, being dealt with at length. The three basic components of humanly produced sounds (initiation, articulation, and phonation) are surveyed in detail; there are extensive discussions of vowels, co-articulation and modified articulation, and sequences and segmentation. The book closes with a more comprehensive review of instrumental phonetics: speech recording/playback, data recording, processing and display, and simulation. Fundamental Problems in Phonetics is ideally suited to serve as a textbook in phonetic phonetic courses. It will also interest general linguists; students of speech, speech pathology, and communications; psychologists; anthropologists; ethologists; and others concerned with vocal behaviour. J. C. CATFORD is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Linguistics at the University of Michigan and has been Director, since 1971, of the University's Phonetics Laboratory.